Trump’s Immigration Order: How TN Lawmakers, Former POTUS and Many Americans are Responding

President Donald Trump’s decision to ban more than 218 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees this past Saturday, January 29, chaos, confusion and anger surged through US airports, law enforcement agencies and foreign countries trying to implement the new policy. 218 million is roughly the combined population of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. This order bans citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for the next 90 days and suspends the admission of all refugees for 120 days. Protests erupted in many airports across the US the following Sunday in Orlando, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Chicago and Atlanta. Trump is quoted to have said “You see it at the airports. You see it all over. It’s working out nicely and we’re going to have a very, very strict ban.” Most Americans don’t see it that way right now.

Many Tennessee lawmakers have voiced their responses to the ban over the past few days. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry said, “It doesn’t matter how you got here, it doesn’t matter when you got here. It matters that you are here and that you are part of our great country. And the fact of the matter is, America has so many tools at our disposal. We use the tools of war all the time. We need to use the tools of peace. The tools of peace that bring our refugees and immigrants to us and make them welcome and bring them home.”

Senator Bob Corker said, “We all share a desire to protect the American people, but this executive order has been poorly implemented, especially with respect to green card holders,” said Corker. “The administration should immediately make appropriate revisions, and it is my hope that following a thorough review and implementation of security enhancements that many of these programs will be improved and reinstated.”

Only being out of office for less than two weeks, former POTUS has released statements about his feelings about the ban. “President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” said Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former president, in a statement issued after a weekend of protests against Mr. Trump’s executive order. “Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.” Mr. Obama, the statement added, “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

“In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles. The United State cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law,” said President Trump. Many Americans are questioning why its being assumed that all foreigners bear hostile attitudes towards this country and its principles. Many are wondering why it seems that this ban was very ill organized, and very ill advised. Many have so many questions that are being left unanswered.

Former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took to Twitter on Saturday, January 28, 2017, saying “I stand with the people gathered across the country tonight defending our values and our Constitution. This is not who we are.”

The actions of this ban also affect green card holders and lawful permanent US residents. Trump’s administration officials are defending the ban and responding to criticism by insisting that the United States had to take these actions so it can reform its vetting procedures and that it was built out carefully over the past few weeks during the transition.

News broke on January 31, 2017 that Washington state has filed a lawsuit seeking to block President Trump’s order on immigration from Muslim-majority countries. The ban prompted protests over the weekend in Seattle and other cities. Washington state is the first to file a lawsuit, seeking a restraining order to stop enforcement of the ban. “If successful, it would have the effect of invalidating the president’s unlawful action nationwide,” said Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

“We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colors and all cultures are distinct and individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don’t share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive.”

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2 Responses

I want to start by saying that this is a really well written and very informative post. I really like that you used multiple sources to support your stance rather than all quotes coming from one source. I also like that you voiced the opinions from the opposing sides of Bob Corker and Megan Barry. In my opinion, unlike what Barry said those immigrants have a home and it isn’t America. I stand with President Trump and truly believe that his policies will benefit this country. I also believe that the people that are causing this large uproar and protesting should, instead of protesting, do something that will actually make a change.

This is a great post that really shows how this Trump administration plans to operate. Trump is trying run the country as he ran his business as the sole decision maker and he is trying to use executive orders as a show of power. Unfortunately, while this method does allow him to quickly push his agenda, it is also potentially detrimental to our country. This decision is creating issues both internal to our country and external with the rest of the world. It should be alarming when he has to use executive orders to make policies because there is not enough support within the government.

I do agree that we need to make America safe and I agree with stronger or more in dept background checks or stricter requirements for known areas but this ban is simply a marketing campaign directed at his supporters. Trump is unable to get the support needed to deliver on his promises during his campaign so he is using executive actions to try and deliver. They are spreading a narrative that there is support and that they are effective but the reality is very different and protests are showing the true attitudes of the people.